Born of Legend (64 page)

And he wasn't about to let his family take it from him. Not without a brutal blood-match.

As gently as he could, he rolled with her and pinned her beneath him so that he could bury his face in her neck and inhale her warm sweet scent while she wrapped her body around his. This was what he loved best. The feeling of being cocooned by her while he was inside her.

Ushara wrapped her legs around Jullien's hips as she felt the change in his mood. She laid her hand against his cheek while he kissed her and intensified his thrusts.

Like this, she could feel every muscle in his body rippling. It'd taken her forever to convince him that he could lay his weight on her and not hurt her. That she welcomed it. Yet even so, he was still very careful with her, as if afraid he'd inadvertently crush her with his weight. While it was true that Andarion males were massive beasts with dense bones and muscle mass, she wasn't exactly frail.

And honestly, there was nothing she loved more than their handful of private moments when she saw a side of Jullien that no one else did. A side that he kept for her alone. Here, he was vulnerable. Gone was any hint of arrogance or bluster. That protective layer of barbed sarcasm he used to push everyone away vanished entirely. He was so incredibly sweet and loving. Thoughtful. Even timid and bashful.

If anyone else came near, his defenses came up immediately and shattered this version of him that he kept solely for her. Not even Vasili was given the privilege of this Jullien. The father he saw was very loving and respectful of him, but also stern when he had to be. Jullien never let Vas forget that he was the elder male or see that he had any vulnerabilities. Rather, he remained steadfast and strong in all matters.

“Just because I changed my opinion about him doesn't change the fact that I'm still right, and you can't go.”
She laughed as she remembered a mini argument Jullien and Vas had had over a friend of Vas's.

Jullien lifted his head to frown at her. “Do I want to know why you're laughing at me while we're having sex?”

Smiling, she kissed him. “Love you, my sweet. Only thinking of how precious you are.”

“And that made you laugh?”

“Would you rather I cry?”

“No, that would definitely be worse for my ego.”

Laughing again, she nipped his throat and then his chin and ear. “Is this helping to show that I'm not laughing at you or your awesome skills, baby?”

Jullien sucked his breath in sharply as she did the most wicked things with her tongue while she cupped and squeezed him. He wasn't sure if he'd ever get used to her lighthearted ways in bed. She liked to tease and have fun, but his knee-jerk reaction was to assume she was mocking him and to take offense at it. Though he was slowly getting better about it, it was still sometimes hard for him to hear laughter and not think it was meant to ridicule.

Yet all he had to do was look into her eyes, and he saw the truth. There was no ridicule there. No hatred or disdain.

Only love and acceptance.

And only Ushara looked at him that way. No one else. Ever.

“You are so beautiful,” he breathed an instant before he watched her scream out in release. He moved even faster, heightening her pleasure and waiting until she was completely finished to join her.

And when he came, he buried his face in her hair and let the softness of it and her body welcome him to the first real home he'd ever known.

In the quiet peacefulness, he held her. Until his link went off with an irritating sound that made him want to splinter the damn thing against the wall.

“Davel?” she asked as he reached for it.

It was normally who disturbed them. Her brother had an unerring ability to know when they were in bed together.

Reluctantly, he slid out of her and reached for his link on the nightstand. He flipped it on and froze. “No. It's my grandmother.”

“What?” She sat up with a gasp to look at it over his shoulder.

He held the link so that she could see it. His breathing ragged, he tried to contain his rage, but it was impossible. Every word made him even more furious until all he could do was crave eton Anatole blood.

So help him, if he ever laid hands to his family again, he'd rip them apart.…

Since you've proven yourself worthless to me, time and again, I had originally intended for you to rot in your impoverished misery. But you couldn't let well enough alone. Therefore, I shall have to punish you for your treacherous interference. Know that you've brought this on yourself. And that you have a choice to make—stay out of my way and live with your little whore, or continue to protect your brother. Every time you stop me, I will take a pound of your flesh for it.

“What does she mean,
a pound of your flesh
?”

“I have no idea. As a boy, it would have meant some quality time spent in the
vörgäte.
”

“
Her private prison?”

He nodded. “I have no idea where she is now. The picture Nylan sent was of the two of them inside a restaurant that could have been on any planet, in any city. All I know is that she was banned from Andaria. The Triosans wouldn't touch her. But we have extended family all over. And allies who would harbor her, including the Porturnum. She's a devious bitch, capable of anything.”

Ushara watched as he began trying to backtrace the transmission. After a few minutes, his anger and frustration built to the point he lifted the link to slam it down.

She caught his hand. “If you destroy it, you'll never be able to use it against her.”

Tears gathered in his eyes. “If she harms you … Shara…”

“She can't harm me, Jules. Don't even go there. I'm not your mother. I'm a warrior in my prime, and I won't underestimate her. But don't sell me short, either.”

“My brain hears you. My heart, however, has no ears.”

Her own tears choked her as she realized what this meant. “They're not going to leave us in peace, are they?”

“No. It's not in them to do so.”

“What are we going to do?”

Jullien cupped her face in his hand. “Do you trust me?”

“With my life and everything I hold sacred.”

“Then you're going to have to let me go and finish this.”

Her heart sank at the lethal tone of his voice. “For how long?”

“As long as it takes to bury them.”

Even though it killed her, she nodded.

 

C
HAPTER
24

“Lararium?” Jullien turned his chair toward Trajen as they landed on what had to be the most remote outpost in the Nine Worlds.

It was so cold here, he didn't even know how it could sustain life. “Now, there's a name you don't see advertised in tourist brochures. Even
I
never made it out this far during my death-defying jaunts, running from League assassins.”

Trajen gave him a caustic stare. “Good thing, too. As you would have been gutted on landing.”

“By what? The imaginary ice cap people who can live without the all-crucial, life-sustaining atmosphere?”

Trajen didn't elaborate. “I know I'm asking a lot, but rein down your tongue. Stop playing hard to get along with. And remember that the individual you're about to meet can melt your brain, and has about as much prick tolerance as you do.”

“Duly noted. May I ask how many live here have that special talent?”

“Since it only takes one having a bad hair day to kill you, do you need a precise head count?”

Not really, but Jullien was in a particularly spiteful mood at the moment and couldn't resist poking the irritable beast in front of him. “More than a handful, then?”

Ushara laughed. “Admit it, Tray. You have to love him. It's like having a giant toddler around with an autoresponder set to Annoy.”

“Really don't.” Trajen let out a low growl. “This might have been a mistake.” Rising, he headed for the ramp. “Shall we get this slaughter over with?”

Jullien wasn't sure what he'd expected, but it damn sure wasn't
this.
His jaw went slack as they stepped out into one of the most elaborate and advanced landing bays he'd ever seen.

And it did, in fact, have an atmosphere, contrary to what the schematics had read.

While the bay was small, it had tech the likes of which he'd never seen or heard of before. He'd kill for a tour of it.

Stay focused.

He arched a brow at Trajen's voice in his head. And as they walked through the area, he noticed they were attracting a lot of attention in spite of the jackets and hoods they wore.

Trajen ignored the people around them and forged ahead with long, deadly strides. Jullien matched him, but made sure that Ushara was keeping up with them, as he didn't want her to fall behind and get attacked by one of the humans here. There was something about them that didn't seem quite right.

Something that set him on edge and gave him an urge to slap them as they passed by to see if they'd react like people.

Or mechas.

Trajen didn't stop or slow until they were on the street, where three low, domed buildings were made of the strangest material Jullien had ever seen.

“What is
that
?”

Trajen glanced at the buildings and shrugged. “Keeps anyone from knowing there's life here. It also makes them think that this part of the planet is uninhabitable.”

Ah, that explained the fictional readings. Damn.… If the surly HAP had access to all
this
insane technology, it begged one question—“So tell me, Tray … why are you Tavali again?”

Trajen drew up short with a harsh stare. “Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to.” That tone said the subject was closed, and for once, Jullien backed off the topic.

His mood more severe and guarded than normal, Trajen took them into a small warehouse where a group was working on mechas. Only these were unlike anything on the market. Some were close enough to pass for human. As in, they were completely indistinguishable from humanity.

They were even perspiring.

Damn …

Jullien glanced to Ushara, and now he really wanted to go back outside and see if he'd been right. Had all those “people” on the street really been mechas instead?

“Hey! Badges!” A guard rushed to challenge them.

Trajen lowered his hood and gave the man a withering glare.

The guard immediately backed down and actually bowed. “Blessed Born, forgive me. I didn't know it was you I was addressing. How may I be of service?”

“Is Thrāix around?”

I'm always around, but I'm not kneeling to your sorry ass. Bugger off.

Jullien glanced about for the source of that deep, raspy voice. But he didn't see anything.

Trajen inclined his head to the guard. “Seems we found him. Thank you.”

As soon as they'd walked away from the guard, Jullien cocked a brow at Trajen. “Oooh, aren't we the haughty bitch when we get back amongst our own?”

“Do I need a rolled-up newspaper to slap you with?”

“Good luck finding one around here. Besides, you smack my nose, it'll just compel me to piss on your leg for spite.”

Sighing, Trajen met Ushara's amused gaze. “Can you please muzzle him?”

“I'm the one who tried to keep him at home. You brought him here, against my wishes. I told you not to have him in public. You know as well as I do that he completely flunked home-training. What were you thinking?”

“Trajen doesn't think. It's always been his shortcoming.”

Ushara jumped at the deeply accented, disembodied voice that spoke beside her.

Jullien watched as a male manifested there who stood a good two inches taller than him—which was impressive, given his height. He also had the build and carriage of a well-trained soldier.

But not just an average soldier …

Special Forces.

It bled from his pores, as if he'd been carved from generations of military servicemen. Coming from a heavy martial society, Jullien could spot the breed from a mile away. Which was strange, given that the Trisani had always been a culture of peace.

But not this one.

The man locked gazes with him as if he knew exactly what Jullien was thinking—which, being Trisani, he most likely did. “Peace never fights, but I do.”

“Never heard the latter part of that verse in the
Book of Harmony
.”

“Fine, then.
Insecure peace is even worse than war. And peace maintained through fear and intimidation is the most malignant form of tyranny
.”

“As an Andarion, I couldn't agree more. War is our happy go-to place—
If there's a battle to be fought, let it be in my lifetime, that my children may sleep safely in peace, and dream of better days.
However, I always thought the Trisani national motto was—
In peace sons bury their fathers. In war, fathers bury their sons. Therefore, make me a weapon of peace, and where there is hatred, let me sow love.
”

“Sadly, it was. By the time our people realized we needed more soldiers than idiot politicians and philosophers with no real-world experience or understanding of their opposition's mind-set, it was too late to save us. They learned the hard way that it takes two to make peace, and only one bomb to destroy our world. That it's a complete waste of time and total insanity for cooing doves to try and negotiate peace with unreasoning jackals when they are hell-bent to feast on your bones.”

Jullien nodded. “
Why did you bite me,
the fox asked the snake,
knowing we'll both drown and die now?
… And the snake answered,
Because it is ever my nature to do so.
”

Approving Jullien's Trisani quote, Thrāix saluted him with two fingers. “And speaking of jackals and snakes…” He turned to glare at Trajen. “I can't believe I let you talk me into this. Your father would be proud of your evil powers of persuasion. And you didn't even try to use your real powers on me. I'm just that fucking gullible.”